Andrea del Sarto was an Italian painter from Florence, whose career flourished during the High Renaissance and early Mannerism. Though highly regarded during his lifetime as an artist senza errori ("without errors"), his renown was eclipsed after his death by that of his contemporaries, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael.

...Andrea married Lucrezia (del Fede), widow of a hatter named Carlo, of Recanati, on 26 December 1512. Lucrezia appears in many of his paintings, often as a Madonna. However, Vasari describes her as 'faithless, jealous, and vixenish with the apprentice.' She is similarly characterized in Robert Browning's poem.

Andrea died in Florence at age 43 during an outbreak of Bubonic Plague in 1530 or 1531. He was buried unceremoniously in the church of the Servites. In Lives of the Artists, Vasari claimed Andrea received no attention at all from his wife during his terminal illness. However, it was well-known at the time that plague was highly contagious, so it has been speculated that Lucrezia was simply afraid to contract the virulent and frequently-fatal disease. If true, this well-founded caution was rewarded, as she survived her husband by 40 years.

Critical assessment and legacy

It was Michelangelo who introduced Vasari in 1524 to Andrea's studio. He is said to have thought very highly of Andrea's talents.... Vasari, however, was highly critical of his teacher, alleging that, though having all the prerequisites of a great artist, he lacked ambition and that divine fire of inspiration which animated the works of his more famous contemporaries, like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_del_Sarto